


Contrast

by Lassarina



Series: 2017 Sev and Rina Prompt Extravaganza [12]
Category: Final Fantasy IX
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 23:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11323536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lassarina/pseuds/Lassarina
Summary: Gaia is a land of contrasts.





	Contrast

Gaia is so full of _colors._ Terra is not monochrome, but it lacks the vibrant colors of Gaia.

Kuja saw a painting once, in a nobleman's house in Alexandria, from an art fad that had swept Lindblum a century before. The colors were layered dark and bright, a technique the nobleman called _chiaroscuro,_ and Kuja found himself fascinated all out of proportion to the actual skill of execution. The painting was of an aged man in a dark cloak who was so much like Garland that for one horrifying second, Kuja thought his creator might step out of the painting and call him to task for not fulfilling his purpose.

He has had enough of other people's purpose.

He sees the same contrast in Alexandria Castle, with the young princess bright and lively against her mother's growing darkness. Brahne was not a happy woman when Kuja first met her, but then, her unhappiness had been turned inward against herself in sorrow for a husband lost too soon. He has spent months cultivating that unhappiness and turning it outward, against Alexandria's neighbors and allies. Soon, Garnet will turn sixteen, and her Eidolons will be ready. Soon, Brahne will unleash her darkness on all the world, aided by his black mages.

Garnet is a white mage, and sometimes Kuja thinks that they would make an astonishing rulership, she bright and he dark, shadows and light weaving all the world into their tapestry. They could rule such that hundreds of plays would be written of their reign, the Alexandrian monarchs who conquered not just Gaia, but Terra as well. Their story would eclipse Marcus and Cornelia.

It is a plan he keeps in reserve, should Brahne fail him.

The sun is setting, and the brilliant blue of the lake reflected in the sword above Alexandria shades purple and then blood-red as the sky performs its evening play. Kuja watches until clouds draw the curtain and the sky grows dark.

The moon shines blue above Alexandria, and it will not be long until, like the sword, it burns scarlet instead.

Kuja steps back into the shadows and makes for the throne room.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "chiaroscuro"


End file.
